As we prepare to return to school, after being closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we will be implementing safety measures as directed by the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Department of Public Health, Muscatine County Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
We understand that these uncharted waters are very difficult to navigate; all of the what if’s and unknowns are stressful for our staff, students and families. We will do our best to provide a safe learning environment for your child(ren) at school. We have protocols in place for cleaning & disinfection, health services, social distancing and a requirement for wearing a face covering in place, to name a few.
We will provide communication to families on a confidential and as needed basis in regard to exposure. We are working on getting a contact tracing program running to help track who may have come into contact with who during school days to identify exposures. We will comply with HIPAA guidelines at all times. We ask that families be honest with the school(s) about symptoms and diagnosis. We can only track and prevent illness with information you share with us. To ensure our schools are safe we are asking for open communication between the school and families. If your child is going to miss school, when you call in we will be asking what symptoms they have so that we can track overall symptoms to determine if we have an outbreak.
We are asking families to screen your child(ren) at home prior to bringing them to school each day. Please take their temperature to ensure they don’t have a fever. Please also monitor for the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 to include but not limited to:
Fever 100.4 or greater
Chills
Cough
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore Throat
Fatigue/Tired
Congestion/Runny Nose
Short of breath
Difficulty Breathing
Nausea/Vomiting
Diarrhea
Muscle or body ache
Rash
As we learn more about the symptoms of Covid-19 we will continue to update the list. For the most up to date list visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
If your child has received any fever reducing medications (example: Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Advil, Aleve) in the last 24 hours they cannot come to school.
If your student(s) answered YES to ANY of these questions they need to stay home and continue to monitor their symptoms. We understand that this list of symptoms is long and can be caused by many illness(es), but at this time these are the guidelines from the CDC and public health departments.
Please have plans in place for your student(s) to remain at home if they are ill. We understand that these times are extremely difficult and it is not easy to have a plan B,C,D or E in place. We are putting these measures in place to protect EVERY child and staff member in our district. We know that this illness appears to be less severe in children, but it has caused death in children and severe illness requiring ventilation and ICU stays. We don’t want any of our students to be in that position. We also want to protect our community no matter the age. We have seen how COVID-19 has directly affected some of our families and it is heartbreaking.
We will be monitoring students for illness and sending them to the nurse for evaluation if a teacher is concerned. Students will be sent home if they exhibit signs and symptoms of COVID-19. Please make sure we have accurate contact information to ensure students can be picked up within 30 minutes of notification. Again, unfortunately the list of signs and symptoms is long and we will have to err on the side of caution from a public health standpoint. We understand that this may be frustrating and inconvenient, but unfortunately at this time this is the guidance we have received and will need to follow.
Please communicate if you have any questions or concerns. Our students and staff are our top priority, no decision has been made lightly. Every decision was made as a collaborative team to best serve our community.
Kayla Morrison & Angela Swick
District Nurses